‘I Care a Lot’ on Netflix: Everything to Know About Rosamund Pike’s Darkly Comedic Thriller
I Care a Lot is the next big Netflix original film, hitting the streaming service on Friday, Feb. 19, in a handful of major territories. Released during the expanded awards show eligibility window, it’s been generating solid buzz for lead actor, Rosamund Pike, and features a strong supporting cast.
‘I Care a Lot’ is a dark comedy about the legal guardian system
I Care a Lot casts Pike as Marla Grayson, a con artist who dupes judges into assigning her to various senior citizens as a legal guardian. Once she’s in control, she uses her authority to start leeching their money.
The film’s plot finds Grayson circling her latest mark, Fran, played by Hollywood veteran Dianne Wiest. Things become complicated when it’s revealed that Fran is, somehow, connected with the criminal underworld, bringing the wrath a major gangster leader down onto Grayson. That gangster, Roman Lunyov, is played by Game of Thrones fan favorite Peter Dinklage.
The rest of the impressive supporting act is rounded out by Eiza González (Baby Driver), Chris Messina (Sharp Objects), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Da 5 Bloods), and Macon Blair (Green Room).
Based on the trailer, I Care a Lot seems to be letting Pike tap into the same dark, headstrong onscreen energy that defined her breakout role in Gone Girl. Adapted from a bestselling Gillian Flynn book, Gone Girl released in 2014 and cast Pike as the titular girl, Amy Elliott-Dunne, an ambitious woman who fakes a disappearance to escape a decaying marriage with her dull, philandering husband, Nick (Ben Affleck).
Be warned: I Care a Lot is only streaming Netflix in select territories. These are, according to Deadline, the U.S., Germany, Latin America, India, the Middle East, and South Africa. Amazon will stream the film everywhere else.
The Netflix original has attracted some awards attention
Following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, I Care a Lot has garnered a solid critical reaction. It currently boasts a 93% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews and 67/100 on Metacritic.
“A searing swipe at late-stage capitalism, I Care A Lot is an exhilarating, icy thriller with a wicked performance from Rosamund Pike,” the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus reads.
“Pike is astonishingly good, tearing into her role with the same icy menace that made her Oscar-nominated performance in Gone Girl so indelible,” The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee wrote. “And like the script she’s working from, there’s such restraint with her venom that it makes her all the more terrifying.”
“Twists abound, and while they don’t always pay off, at least ‘I Care a Lot’ cares enough to deliver a full, bloody meal of a film for anyone intrigued by the allure of anti-heroes,” IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote.
Pike has received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, the film’s only nomination at the show. While other performers are generating more hype heading into the rest of awards season, Pike’s performance is still a potential dark horse for Best Actress at the Oscars.
